Giants jolt Dodgers with two runs in ninth

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Eugenio Velez slapped a single up the
middle in the bottom of the ninth inning, sending the San
Francisco Giants to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers
on Sunday.

It was the second straight walk-off victory for the Giants, who
sealed a series win against their longtime rivals and lifted
them to their first winning homestand of the season.

Hong-Chih Kuo (3-2) allowed back-to-back singles by Randy Winn
and Aaron Rowand in the ninth. Pinch hitter Omar Vizquel then
popped up on a bunt attempt before the Giants loaded the bases
on a fielding error by Casey Blake, allowing Luis Castillo to
reach.

Emmanuel Burriss tied it with a fielder's choice RBI, just
beating out the throw and setting the stage for the rookie
Velez.

"I knew once I hit that ball that I wouldn't be hustling if I
didn't beat that ball out," Burriss said. "Once I hit it on the
ground I realized they were going to get an out, I just wanted
to make sure they didn't get two and get that run in."

"I just tried to get my pitch and put it in play," Velez said.
"When I hit the ball, I didn't think he was going to catch it,
that's why I went so fast. When I saw the ball past the pitcher,
I knew the game was over."

Winn gave the Giants a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first.
Los Angeles tied it in the third after a triple by Andre Ethier
and an RBI groundout by Jeff Kent.

Winn capped a two-out rally by driving in two more runs in the
fourth, giving the Giants a 3-1 lead.

"It was a nice series for us," Winn said. "Hopefully (we can
win) without coming back every night. That would not be ideal,
but I think it's a good sign for us to get this one and see guys
battle and battle. It paid off the last two nights."

Los Angeles bounced back for a run in the fifth. Matt Kemp
ripped a triple to left-center and scored on an RBI single from
Ethier.

Manny Ramirez gave the Dodgers the lead in the seventh. Kemp hit
a one-out double and Ethier followed with a walk. After getting
Kent to fly out, the Giants elected to pitch to Ramirez and the
slugger responded with a screaming line-drive double to
left-center staking the Dodgers to a 4-3 edge.

"I don't really feel like I tried to throw it any harder (to
Ramirez)," San Francisco starter Matt Cain said. "We had a
chance to get him out there and I didn't make my pitch and he
made me pay for it and it almost cost us. Huge props to those
guys. They kept pushing and pushing. That's awesome to see out
of us."

Ramirez, who was hit by a pitch in the first, continued to
produce for his new team. He is hitting .459 (17-for-37) with 11
RBI in nine games since the Dodgers acquired him in a
blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox.

While not sharp, Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley made
pitches when he needed to and got some big outs. The righthander
allowed three runs and nine hits with six strikeouts.

"It would have been a nice victory for him for how hard he had
to work to just get through six, but again, it wasn't his best
outing as far as command of stuff, but I see a lot of maturity
there as far as trying to make it work," said Los Angeles
manager Joe Torre, who admits the team feels they let
opportunities slip away during the series.

"We're playing hard. I have no complaints at all, other than the
final score," Torre said. "These guys have been playing hard and
I appreciate that and they want it badly. We just need to keep
fighting it."

San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy appreciated the effort he saw
from his club, which has now won three series in a row for the
first time since early last season.

"First of all, a heck of a series and to come back these last
two games and get great wins like this - it does so much for the
spirit, the mood of a ballclub, the sense of confidence that
goes through the club house and how important it is to fight
nine innings," Bochy said. "The intensity that was here in this
series, the crowd you could hear them. It was a lot of fun out
there. It's great to come off two series like this before we hit
the road."

Jack Taschner (3-1) got the win for the Giants, striking out two
in a scoreless ninth inning.

Cain gave up four runs and six hits - four for extra bases -
with four strikeouts.